What Comcast-Time Warner Cable Deal’s Demise Means for Consumers
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Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Some consumer advocates call the death of the Comcast-Time Warner Cable deal a victory for consumers, but it won’t fix every problem about cable and broadband services, they say.
Attorney General Eric Holder said on Friday that the two companies’ decision to abandon their deal to merge “is the best outcome for American consumers.”
“This is a victory not only for the Department of Justice, but also for providers of content and streaming services who work to bring innovative products to consumers across America and around the world,” Holder said in a statement.
Friday’s confirmation of the proposed deal’s demise ends a journey that began more than a year ago, when Comcast and Time Warner Cable announced plans to merge and create the largest Internet service provider in the country. The combined company would have had five times the subscribers of its closest competitor, the Electronic Frontier Foundation said.
This week, the Federal Communications Commission announced a major barrier to the plan when it requested a hearing about the merger.
“If Comcast bought Time Warner Cable, it would have had the ability to single-handedly control the broadband and media marketplaces,” John Bergmayer, senior staff attorney for consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge, told ABC News.
The new company would have had the ability to “crush” new competitors, such as online video providers, he said.
“It would have been able to reduce consumers’ ability to access diverse programming and Internet content. Prices would go up, not just for Comcast’s subscribers, but for consumers nationwide,” he said. “The FCC and the Department of Justice understood this, and stopping this deal is a huge victory for consumers.”
A spokesman for Time Warner Cable told ABC News in a prepared statement: “TWC is committed to being a company that makes connections that matter for our customers and for every stakeholder. We will continue to provide reliable, advanced technology and superior service that New Yorkers expect from us.”
A spokeswoman for Comcast declined to comment beyond a statement released by Comcast’s chairman and CEO.
“Today, we move on. Of course, we would have liked to bring our great products to new cities, but we structured this deal so that if the government didn’t agree, we could walk away,” Comcast’s Brian Roberts said. “Comcast NBCUniversal is a unique company with strong momentum.”
Public Knowledge said the end of the merger doesn’t fix everything that’s wrong in the broadband and cable marketplaces. New video and connectivity services are just starting to emerge, and competition may still be at risk, the group wrote on its website.
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